Former sailor announces run for Congress - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Former sailor announces run for Congress

HICKORY, N.C. — A former sailor and double amputee said Wednesday he would run next year for the congressional seat currently held by GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry.

Daniel Johnson, who has been an assistant Wake County prosecutor for the past three years, will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge McHenry in the 10th Congressional District.

Johnson, 31, moved back to his native Hickory earlier this month.

“I promise to rise above the divisive politics that have plagued our government for too long, and focus on representing the values and priorities of North Carolina,” Johnson said in a news release.

As a Navy ensign, Johnson received the Navy’s highest peacetime award for bravery when he rescued a fellow sailor entangled in a rope connecting a Navy ship to a tugboat off the South Korean coast in 1999. The rope ensnared Johnson, flipping him onto his back and amputating both legs at the calf.

After working as an aide to then-U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., another veteran and amputee, Johnson went to law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Johnson joins Steve Ivester, a retired Hickory businessman and engineer, as a candidate for the Democratic nomination. Ivester, 64, announced his bid two weeks ago.

The May primary winner faces a tough challenge in the Republican-leaning 10th District, which covers all or portions of 10 Piedmont, foothills and mountain counties.

McHenry, 32, won the seat after an upset of Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman in the Republican primary. He won the 2004 and 2006 general elections by wide margins.